Cincinnati Reds rookie shortstop Elly De La Cruz hit the decisive win against the Atlanta Braves on Friday, becoming the first Cincinnati player in 34 years to accomplish the feat. Here’s what you need to know:
- De La Cruz finished the cycle with a triple in the sixth inning and hit a run.
- The 21-year-old became the first player in MLB history to cycle hit, steal a base and complete four or more runs (since RBI became an official statistic in 1920) within the first six innings of a game. Opta Stats.
- De La Cruz is the first Reds player with a cycle since Eric Davis did so on June 2, 1989 in a 9-4 win over the San Diego Padres.
backstory
De La Cruz hit a home run on the Braves’ AJ Smith-Shawver in the third inning after hitting a double hit in the second inning. In the fifth he added a single. Cincinnati won 11-10 against the Braves and improved to 41-35 that season, earning first place in the National League Central.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
How did De La Cruz do it?
Perhaps since Davis himself there hasn’t been a player better suited to the cycle than De La Cruz. Like Davis, De La Cruz has top-notch strength and speed. Like Elite? According to MLB’s StatCast, De La Cruz’s average exit speed for batted is in the 95th percentile and his sprint speed is in the 100th percentile.
His double in Friday’s second inning had an exit speed of 116.6 mph, bested by only seven baseball players this season. His triple-A max was 118.8 mph, better than any batted ball in the big leagues this year.
His average sprint speed of 30.9 feet per second is not only the fastest in baseball, but the fastest by half a second. Not only can he hit the ball as far as anyone and run faster than anyone, he’s also a switch hitter. All four of his hits for the cycle were left-handed.
The 118.8 mph hit in the minors was a right-hander. – Rosecrans
Putting De La Cruz’s performance in perspective
Great American Ball Park isn’t the best place to hit this cycle, which might explain why a Red had never hit a hit here before Friday, but it’s not impossible. Christian Yelich has done it twice and Randy Winn of the Giants slammed for the cycle here in 2005.
But that doesn’t explain the fact that only one Red, Davis, has ever made it at Riverfront Stadium, home of the Big Red Machine. Riverfront is home to the Big Red Machine, but so is Davis’ teammate and friend Barry Larkin. This Hall of Famer never did either.
Before Davis’ cycle, Frank Robinson was the last Red to score for the cycle on May 2, 1959. – Rosecrans
required reading
(Photo: Katie Stratman / USA Today)